Archive for the ‘3D TV & 3D Printers’ Category

3D printers create three-dimensional solid objects from a digital design. The process includes layering of materials until it forms the design. 3D printing has been around for decades now and is mostly used for industrial use like rapid prototyping and manufacturing.

3D printers are heavy machinery, until desktop versions were introduced a couple of years ago. MakerBot Industries came out with different desktop 3D printers like the Thing-O-Matic, Ultimaker, Huxley, and many more.

A new 3D printer is coming out soon, the MakiBox A6. It is startup project from Jon Buford. The MakiBox A6 3D printer starts from $300 + $50 for global shipping. The project received 375 supporters to successfully fund the project. Let us take a look at the features of this 3D printer.

The MakiBox A6 3D Printer

The MakiBox A6 3D printer is the first 3D printer that is compact, reliable and self-contained. It is the most affordable desktop 3D printer available and you can get it for $300. Other 3D printers range from $500-$2000. Compared to other desktop 3D printers, the Makibox A6 is simple to use and comes in a compact design that makes use of screws instead of pulleys and belts. This feature reduces the parts that you need to assemble and maintain.

The MakiBox A6 is smaller compared to other 3D printers and can print up to ¼ of its size. The printer is enclosed, securing your work without worrying about pets or children accidentally slipping something while you are printing. It has an active cooling fan to constantly keep the printer cool and perform at top efficiency.

Some things you can print

If you are wondering what you can print with the MakiBox A6 3D printer, here are some things you can print:

Missing pieces of board games

Customized hearing aid

Phone case with your own design and logo

Toys

Jewellery and other accessories

3D printers are ideal for designers, makers, students, engineers, and anyone who wants to start designing and making things on their own.

A 3D printer is a form of technology that can create a three-dimensional object using layers of a particular material. With this type of printer, one can produce models that imitate a prototype’s look, functionality and feel.

Today, a 3D printer can already do many things. You can make jewelry, art or even your own action figures. Architecture firms are using 3D printers for creating models. In 2050, however, your grandkids will be making completely different things. Here are five things your grandchildren could be making with their 3D printers in the future:

1. Organs

What if in 2050, no one will have to be on a waiting list for an organ transplant ever again? The children of the future just might be able to find a way to replace body organs. Your grandkids might be able to create skin with a 3D printer, and no one will ever know the difference.

2. Toys

In 2050, you may not need to bring your grandchildren to the toy store. Why? They’ll most probably be designing and creating their own toys by then. You can already make your own action figures today, although it is difficult to make them out of non-toxic materials. By 2050, non-toxic materials for the 3D printer should be readily and easily available.

3. Automobile Parts

It’s very possible that your grandchildren will construct their own cars with this type of printer. If they are able to construct a majority or all of the different parts of an automobile and are able to assemble it, then there will be no need to get them a car.

4. Homes

When your grandchildren grow older and express interest in moving out of their parents’ house, they might just move into a home built with a 3D printer. At present, there is already talk of using this technology for building homes, but there are still many issues that have to be solved.

5. Electronics

In this day and age, people still have to pay for their gadgets. If you want a mobile phone or a computer, you need to buy it. In 2050, things will be different. A 3D printer can print pretty much anything—including electronics. There will be no need to pay for the latest technology, because your grandchildren will be making it for you.

In 2050, your Christmas gifts from your grandkids will probably be something made from a 3D printer.

The world of printer technology has begun to produce some truly useful and interesting innovations during the last few years. Rather than sticking with the standard 2d format and all the conventions that come with it, many print companies have started making devices capable of truly unique and often amazing 3D results utilizing various materials to create the end result with layers of medium. Take a look at some of the most interesting 3D printers available today.

1. Printers that Print Glass: Through vitraglyphic processing, engineers and artists at the University of Washington were able to create glass objects using a 3D printer. Typically a 3D object is made by these printers using a fine powder and small drops of binding agent to build the structure of the object, layer by layer. In the case of the glass printer, this process needed to be modified. Previously the glass powder and binding agent didn’t work well together and no structure would hold the glass powder together; however, after some alterations were made in the amount of binding agent and a heating process, glass objects could finally be created.

2. Printers that Make Highly Articulated Robot Figures: Utilizing a printer made by Safeway to construct objects out of stainless steel, one Algerian artist has created highly articulated robot figures. The art world has found 3D printing a wonderfully exacting and useful resource for both, constructing specific designs and also easily replicating them for sale; Mani Zamani’s robots are just one example of the pieces that have come from the innovation. Just as with the original 3D printers, these objects are made out of steel powder adhered with binding agent and then infused with bronze. The innovation means that with time and work, the machines we use everyday could literally recreate themselves.

3. Printers that Print Themselves: It’s not completed yet, but a new printer called the RepRap is in the process of being developed and is said to already be able to print parts of itself, effectively making a machine that can replicate itself. The implications are of course quite intriguing and according to the makers, it is likely to do a great deal to help the economy and the environment by reducing the amount of impact on the world.

4. Printers for Printing Buildings: Really? Yes it’s true they’ve begun to make 3D printers large enough and effective enough to turn sand and binding material into large stone blocks for construction! Working very much like the original 3D printers which could print models, these devices offer an effective and very green method of building the real thing out of the sand available on sight and binding material. The innovation has plenty of implications for current use and could prove useful for the future when we finally succeed in our endeavor to settle on a foreign moon or an alien world.

5. The Organ Printer: This device could prove to be one of the most valuable and important inventions created in recent years if it works as intended. What does it do? This device prints human organs and tissue utilizing your own DNA. This means repairing damage that was irreversible such as major scarring and severed limbs and evading the issue of organ rejection because the material is derived entirely from your own. Designed utilizing the inkjet printer, it builds these materials layer by layer as do most other 3D printers; only this is constructed in a petri dish. The dish contains liquid and the printer cartridge uses cells and a crosslinker to build the material bit by bit. For time being, it’s only getting started but the outlook is very good.

3D has been around for many years but 3D television is a recent development, right? Actually 3D television and 3D technology go back quite a bit farther than you might think. 3D actually began with the invention of photography in 1838 and the invention of stereoscope; the very first device that could photograph in 3D. From there, 3D photography grew to be employed in film. The first 3D camera for motion capture came in the invention of the Kinematoscope in 1855 and the first film was released in 1922 and was called The Power of Love. The first color 3D film was produced in 1935.

3D movies continued to be made and as time passed, in 1947 the Soviet Union released Robinson Crusoe. The films Bwana Devil in 1952 and House of Wax in 1953 were some of the first of more than sixty 3D films made during the 50s and 60s, a period during which there were also several advances in the way 3D filming was done. Many of these innovations helped in reducing the amount of equipment taken to make a 3D image and speeding up the process on many levels. As a result of these films, 3D serials started being aired on television during the fifties. Yes, that’s right 3D TV has been with us nearly as long as the television itself! Unfortunately the medium grew to be too tedious because of the inferior viewing conditions in most movie theaters and the complex and often expensive equipment needed to make the films.

As you may already know, the 3D format began to be used again during the 70s and 80s in such films as Friday the 13th Part 3 and Jaws 3D. These films led to some success but soon interest flagged and the medium was dropped until the IMAX premiered at Expo ’86 in Vancouver. Until 2001 the format saw only sparing use due to the prohibitive costs and limited interest in the mainstream film industry. Since 2001 computer animation, digital cameras and now 3D home theater systems have begun the process of making 3D a fully realized and accessible medium for everyone. With these advances, we are now seeing the return of 3D television in a far richer and more fully realized format.

Starting in 2010, we will have access to 3D televisions, blue ray players, films, and 3D television stations. Films like Alice in Wonderland and Avatar have opened the eye of the imagination and helped the 3D format to regain enough popularity to bring about renewed interest. Improved image tools, filming equipment and a wide array of advances in film making and production have allowed a very old idea to finally be brought to its true potential. With the new televisions and soon the regularly running 3D television channels there’s a very real possibility that 3D can not only remain a useful medium but also become a major component of future innovations as color and HD were before it.

2010 will be the year of the 3D television; the interest may seem uncertain and the costs great but there is no doubt that this is true. With a wealth of information available and several locations to test them out, the only real question that remains is “when?” Below you’ll find a list of this year’s 3D TVs and their release dates.

1. Panasonic TC-PVT25 : Panasonic’s 3D television debuted at Best Buy stores on March 10th and shortly thereafter sold out. Offered as a bundle with a compatible 3D blue ray player these TVs offer great picture, full 1080p in both eyes, access to sites like Twitter, Netflix, Pandora and FoxSports through its VIERRA CAST IPTV, SKYPE video calling, THX certification and wi-fi access.

2. Samsung 9000 Series: Samsung also released their new 3D TVs in March. Their TVs are the first LEDs to be released with the built in 3D processing unit, boast a pencil thin thickness, energy efficiency, wi-fi, 2D to 3D conversion, true 240 Hz 1080p playback, access to several apps through the Samsung app shop (this includes things like Netflix), a full color touch screen remote that allows a 2nd person to watch another channel on the remote, and comes in 46 and 55 inch models. Glasses will have to purchased separately however.

3. LG LX9500 3D TV: This model is slated for early May and comes with quite a few interesting features. With a sleek slim design (about the width of a pencil), 47 or 57 inch screen, and claims to be the first LED 3D TV and to be able to provide that 3D without the glasses. It’s also able to load 3D still shots and other items from your camera without having to convert it on a pc first.

4. Sony Bravia XBR-LX900: Sony’s 3D TV is due out in June this year. The Bravia comes with DNLA connectivity, integrated wi-fi, localized dimming, advanced protection from refracted and reflected light to prevent glare, Sony Intelligence Pr4sence Sensor (this detects if you’re still in the room and dims then shuts off the TV if you are gone for long), accessible content for the Bravia through a line to Sony’s shop, Motionflow Pro 240 Hz and Monlith Design to improve image output, and Opticontrast panel. The Bravia comes in 40 and 60 inch screen sizes and a slim line look.

5. Vizio XVT Pro Series: These TVs already have quite the reputation for having released a solid HD television at a price that many could afford. Now this company is releasing a 3D TV in August. Their 3D TV comes with LED backlighting technology, a 480Hz refresh rate (which improves image and reduces blurring), smart dimming hardware to improve colors and the depth of blackness, built in wireless HDMI (negating the need for HDMI cables) among other options. All of which makes it an excellent option for those with a low 3D budget who still want a great TV.